Just drove on the E6 from Southern Norway into Sweden for the afternoon. The freeway/motorway seems to be complete, except for one small section just south of Tranum. There doesn't seem to be any sign on construction in that part. Does anyone know when and/or if they are going to upgrade that part to motorway? Until it is, Oslo is still the only Western/Northern European capital to not be connected to the rest of Western/Northern Europe via motorway.

Just drove on the E6 from Southern Norway into Sweden for the afternoon. The freeway/motorway seems to be complete, except for one small section just south of Tranum. There doesn't seem to be any sign on construction in that part. Does anyone know when and/or if they are going to upgrade that part to motorway? Until it is, Oslo is still the only Western/Northern European capital to not be connected to the rest of Western/Northern Europe via motorway.

It is planned, but I believed it has been delayed for some reason. Construction will start soon.

Also, Stockholm is not connected to the rest of Europe via motorway. There is a 2+1 stretch in Småland.

Also, Stockholm is not connected to the rest of Europe via motorway. There is a 2+1 stretch in Småland.

Helsinki isn't motorway-linked to Continental Europe, either.

Nor is London and Dublin.

Nor is London and Dublin.

Neither Vaduz, Valletta, San Marino, Andorra la Vella and Rejkjavik.

Vaduz as good as. Swiss A13 runs right beside it. We won't be needing motorways soon anyway, by 2015 they will do a hover conversion on all vehicles, and we will be flying. Also we won't need any gas, as Mr Fusion will transform all garbage into power.

Vaduz as good as. Swiss A13 runs right beside it. We won't be needing motorways soon anyway, by 2015 they will do a hover conversion on all vehicles, and we will be flying. Also we won't need any gas, as Mr Fusion will transform all garbage into power.

Just vote for Major Goldie Wilson III so that he can develop his soon-to-be famous hover conversions.

Just vote for Major Goldie Wilson III so that he can develop his soon-to-be famous hover conversions.
Indeed. Progress is his middle name!

Planning a trip to Sweden next year.

I would like to hire a car and drive from Stockholm to Malmö (and back a different route). I understand that much of the route isn't motorway, but roughly how long would that take?

How are drivers in southern Sweden generally? Are they generally placid or aggressive and how are the police when it comes to enforcing rules such as speeding in particular (because I like to drive fast)?

Planning a trip to Sweden next year.

I would like to hire a car and drive from Stockholm to Malmö (and back a different route). I understand that much of the route isn't motorway, but roughly how long would that take?

How are drivers in southern Sweden generally? Are they generally placid or aggressive and how are the police when it comes to enforcing rules such as speeding in particular (because I like to drive fast)?

It will take you about six hours if you don't make too many stops. If you take the E4 and E6 it is about 600 kms and all of it, except a 21 km gap, is motorway standard. Speed limit mostly 110 and 120 km/h.

Drivers in Sweden are generally not very aggressive. If you stay on the motorway there are no speed cameras but if you are spotted by a police car there is usually little tolerance for speeding. Maximum speeding fine is 4000 SEK (571USD).

It will take you about six hours if you don't make too many stops. If you take the E4 and E6 it is about 600 kms and all of it, except a 21 km gap, is motorway standard. Speed limit mostly 110 and 120 km/h.

Drivers in Sweden are generally not very aggressive. If you stay on the motorway there are no speed cameras but if you are spotted by a police car there is usually little tolerance for speeding. Maximum speeding fine is 4000 SEK (571USD).

That's a big fine, but I agree with it if it aids road safety. Six hours isn't too bad at all as I'm used to enormous distances between US cities. The E4 looks like the most direct route, but it looks like much of it is non-motorway. I plan on taking a more coastal route back to Stockholm. I may even hop over to Copenhagen if there's time.

1.21 GIGAWATTS???

That's a big fine, but I agree with it if it aids road safety. Six hours isn't too bad at all as I'm used to enormous distances between US cities. The E4 looks like the most direct route, but it looks like much of it is non-motorway. I plan on taking a more coastal route back to Stockholm. I may even hop over to Copenhagen if there's time.

Actually, apart from that short gap in Småland, the E4 is a motorway from Helsingborg all the way up to Gävle (two hours north of Stockholm), a distance of almost 800 kilometers.

My recommendation is that you take the E4 south and then head back via E6 to Gothenburg, the motorway along the west coast is much more scenic. Then take road 40 to Jönköping (also mostly motorway) where you can take road 195 on the west side of lake Vättern and head up towards Örebro to join the E20 or E18 motorways back to Stockholm. That trip would let you see a lot of the country, some scenic routes and it would be mostly on motorways.

What's E22 along the east coast like?

That's a big fine, but I agree with it if it aids road safety. Six hours isn't too bad at all as I'm used to enormous distances between US cities. The E4 looks like the most direct route, but it looks like much of it is non-motorway. I plan on taking a more coastal route back to Stockholm. I may even hop over to Copenhagen if there's time.

All of E4 between Stockholm and Malmö is motorway, except for a small section of expressway.

For the return journey I recommend the E22 along the eastern coast of southern Sweden.

What's E22 along the east coast like?
Very mixed, ranging from standard rural road (50/70 km/h) to 2+1 road with a limit of 100 km/h. There is even some motorway.

And in terms of scenery? I know not to expect Norwegian fjords there, but is it nice?

And in terms of scenery? I know not to expect Norwegian fjords there, but is it nice?

The east coast of Sweden along the E22 is a shifting landscape between flat open farmland, large pine woods and lots of small towns that you by pass or in some cases have to pass through. When reaching Kalmar a trip over the 7 km bridge to the island of Öland is worth a visit.

When reaching Norrköping after around 500 km of E22 the last 200 km strech to Stockholm is highway.

How are drivers in southern Sweden generally? Are they generally placid or aggressive and how are the police when it comes to enforcing rules such as speeding in particular (because I like to drive fast)?

My experience of driving in southern Sweden is that drivers are just European average. Neither remarkably good nor really bad. Did a lot of speeding and didn't get caught, but I guess I was lucky.

How are drivers in southern Sweden generally? Are they generally placid or aggressive and how are the police when it comes to enforcing rules such as speeding in particular (because I like to drive fast)?

It's worth noting that Swedish roads are among the safest in the world, if not the safest. Several reasons for this: The roads are generally good, at least given the AADT numbers. Main routes are commonly motorways or divided 2+1 highways. In addition, Swedish drivers generally follow the rules, though moderate speeding isn't uncommon. Tailgating and dangerous overtaking is rare, drinking and driving is generally not accepted (limit 0.02%). I don't think you will face any difficulities, of all the countries I've driven in (20+ European countries plus the US), Sweden is probably the most straightforward.

It's worth noting that Swedish roads are among the safest in the world, if not the safest. Several reasons for this: The roads are generally good, at least given the AADT numbers. Main routes are commonly motorways or divided 2+1 highways. In addition, Swedish drivers generally follow the rules, though moderate speeding isn't uncommon. Tailgating and dangerous overtaking is rare, drinking and driving is generally not accepted (limit 0.02%). I don't think you will face any difficulities, of all the countries I've driven in (20+ European countries plus the US), Sweden is probably the most straightforward.

I thought that would be the case. Having driven in much of the US where many people drive like dicks (especially in cities), I think I'd be OK. Generally, I've found other northern European countries that I've driven in (including my home country, the UK) to be pretty easy.

Another question, which coast (east or west) in Sweden is the more scenic?

I thought that would be the case. Having driven in much of the US where many people drive like dicks (especially in cities), I think I'd be OK. Generally, I've found other northern European countries that I've driven in (including my home country, the UK) to be pretty easy.

Another question, which coast (east or west) in Sweden is the more scenic?

I'd say the west coast. The east coast (well, at least in Småland) is boring in comparison.

If I remember correctly, doing 40 km/h higher than the limit on motorways and 30 km/h on other roads classifies as reckless driving and can result in the loss of your driving license and jail.

If I remember correctly, doing 40 km/h higher than the limit on motorways and 30 km/h on other roads classifies as reckless driving and can result in the loss of your driving license and jail.

Glad to hear that Swedes take road safety seriously. Traffic fatalities are no joke.

Nearly all EU countries have better traffic safety records than the United States, so there's not much to worry about, unless you plan to drive into traffic chaos hell like Naples or Palermo.

Nearly all EU countries have better traffic safety records than the United States, so there's not much to worry about, unless you plan to drive into traffic chaos hell like Naples or Palermo.

I am from an EU country myself (the UK) and I agree 100%. Traffic safety is quite appalling over here, though it varies by state.

If I remember correctly, doing 40 km/h higher than the limit on motorways and 30 km/h on other roads classifies as reckless driving and can result in the loss of your driving license and jail.

Well, yes and no. If you drive more than 30 over the limit your license will most likely be suspended for a month or more, in addition to the fines.

If you drive more than 50 km /h over the limit they report it to a prosecutor. That prosecutor could - in theory - try a case in court for reckless driving, but it certainly doesn't happen automatically. There are also several cases with people going 180+ on motorways and not being convicted for reckless driving, while there are examples of people going 60 km/h outside a school who have been convicted.

So no one is being sent to prison for speeding alone. In theory reckless driving could mean a prison sentence but in 99 of 100 cases the punishment would be a day-fine, a percentage of your income.

Six hours isn't too bad at all as I'm used to enormous distances between US cities. The E4 looks like the most direct route, but it looks like much of it is non-motorway. I plan on taking a more coastal route back to Stockholm. I may even hop over to Copenhagen if there's time.

Autobahn-bilder.de has a set of pictures from the E4 from Helsingborg all the way up to Stockholm, if you want to get an idea of what the road standard is like.

http://www.autobahn-bilder.de/inlines/e4schw.htm

I see they repaved E4 near Helsingborg. I remember there was poor quality concrete there.

Generally, I've found other northern European countries that I've driven in (including my home country, the UK) to be pretty easy.

Another question, which coast (east or west) in Sweden is the more scenic?

I would say that swedish motorways are very easy to drive on, they are almost empty at times, few cars, not many trucks, plenty of space and absense of speeders.

Add to that scenic rest areas, lots of service stations, many with restaurants. Many service stations are open 24h.

After your swedish driving experience, take the ferry to Germany and you will notice the difference. Grey landscape, plenty of roadwork, clogged motorways full of trucks and speeders all the time in the left lane. Also breakdowns on the motorways is a common sight.

I agree with the above. It is a pleasure to drive in Sweden, I have done it for many many times, and will continue to do so in the future.

Very mixed, ranging from standard rural road (50/70 km/h) to 2+1 road with a limit of 100 km/h. There is even some motorway.

Definitely, yes.

It is a showcase of the Swedish style to improve their roads in very short legs. The road changes its class tens of times.

And in terms of scenery? I know not to expect Norwegian fjords there, but is it nice?

The road runs in the inland, even if it lies close to the coastline. The road itself is not very scenic, but it makes it it easy to visit nice towns and villages at the seaside nearby.

Just drove on the E6 from Southern Norway into Sweden for the afternoon. The freeway/motorway seems to be complete, except for one small section just south of Tranum. There doesn't seem to be any sign on construction in that part. Does anyone know when and/or if they are going to upgrade that part to motorway? Until it is, Oslo is still the only Western/Northern European capital to not be connected to the rest of Western/Northern Europe via motorway.

The last part of E6 through Tanum has become delayed in planning because it runs through a UNESCO-site. Follow it on trafikverket's website: http://www.trafikverket.se/Privat/Projekt/Vastra-Gotaland/E6-genom-Bohuslan/E6-delen-Palen-Tanumshede1/

Autobahn-bilder.de has a set of pictures from the E4 from Helsingborg all the way up to Stockholm, if you want to get an idea of what the road standard is like.

http://www.autobahn-bilder.de/inlines/e4schw.htm

Thanks for that! Sweden is beautiful....the countryside looks very wild and unspoilt. I particularly liked these shots:

http://www.autobahn-bilder.de/images/schweden/E4Helsingborg-Stockholm/IMG_2225.JPG
http://www.autobahn-bilder.de/images/schweden/E4Helsingborg-Stockholm/IMG_2363.JPG
http://www.autobahn-bilder.de/images/schweden/E4Helsingborg-Stockholm/IMG_2515.JPG

It proves that non-mountainous scenery can be just as beautiful, especially in a country such as Sweden where you have so much unspoilt land.

I owe you guys a fika or two for this.

I would say that swedish motorways are very easy to drive on, they are almost empty at times, few cars, not many trucks, plenty of space and absense of speeders.

Add to that scenic rest areas, lots of service stations, many with restaurants. Many service stations are open 24h.

After your swedish driving experience, take the ferry to Germany and you will notice the difference. Grey landscape, plenty of roadwork, clogged motorways full of trucks and speeders all the time in the left lane. Also breakdowns on the motorways is a common sight.

I guess it's partly because Germany is so much more densely populated. The more traffic volume that a road has to handle, the more maintenance it needs and the more disruption is caused to traffic as a result (can be a vicious cycle).

From what I've seen on here and Google Street View, Swedish roads look great - wide, simple, clear signage and based on what others have said, good drivers.

The only thing I find annoying is that they stay longer on an overtaking lane then they should, but when you get close enough on somebody's ass, they swiftly move over. Also indicators on Swedish lorries appear to be broken, and side mirrors are for decorational purposes only. The amount of times I nearly got side-swapped...

^^ Sounds just like France to me.

Not really, indicators work so well in France, that they leave them on when overtaking. Also they keep to the inside better.

After your swedish driving experience, take the ferry to Germany and you will notice the difference. Grey landscape, plenty of roadwork, clogged motorways full of trucks and speeders all the time in the left lane. Also breakdowns on the motorways is a common sight.

but you are aware that population in germany is 8 times bigger than in sweden?

and that germany is a real heavy weight economy not only in europe but also in the whole world?

also germany is a transit country which you by all means cant say about sweden, which means much much bigger traffic.

and about speeding in the left lane: can it be that there was no speed limit on that section you saw the speeding? normally most germans stick to the speed limits -if there actually is one. at least thats my experience.

Thanks for that! Sweden is beautiful....the countryside looks very wild and unspoilt. I particularly liked these shots:

http://www.autobahn-bilder.de/images/schweden/E4Helsingborg-Stockholm/IMG_2225.JPG

This is my favorite part of the E4 and arguably the most beautiful stretch of motorway in Sweden. It was opened in the 60:ies and was actually built for left-hand traffic. This is still noticeable at some junctions where the layout is really weird.



Here are a few more pictures (although south-bound) from Gränna to Jönköping that I took a few years back.


http://forumbilder.se/images/c64201083228Pf7b1.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

http://forumbilder.se/images/d04201083630P54d0.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)
(13).

http://forumbilder.se/images/4a4201083843Pb82e.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

http://forumbilder.se/images/6b4201083929P2f75.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

http://forumbilder.se/images/0f4201084017Paa71.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

http://forumbilder.se/images/ec4201084115P8533.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

http://forumbilder.se/images/224201084301Pf7bd.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

http://forumbilder.se/images/144201084749P9fb5.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)
Exit 100 to Huskvarna, birthplace of Husqvarna – one of the world's largest producers of chainsaws, lawn and garden equipment.

http://forumbilder.se/images/504201085255P5a77.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)
Entering Jönköping, a city with a population of about 85 000.

http://forumbilder.se/images/594201085531Pe953.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)
First local exit in Jönköping, hence the white sign.

http://forumbilder.se/images/554201085808P6f34.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)
Indirect signs for roads 26, 40 (west) and 47 (west).

http://forumbilder.se/images/a34201085940Pf7d2.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

http://forumbilder.se/images/2d4201090031P3722.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)
Overhead signs on urban motorways in Sweden rarely show control cities, only road numbers.

http://forumbilder.se/images/384201090335Pbb13.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)
Jönköping city center.

http://forumbilder.se/images/154201090459Pb8d8.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)
The A6 shopping mall has its own exit.

http://forumbilder.se/images/fb4201090552P67c0.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

http://forumbilder.se/images/4b4201090812Pbefe.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)
Trafikplats Ljungarum, the E4/Road 40 interchange.

http://forumbilder.se/images/4f4201090918Pa32f.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)
Trafikplats Ljungarum

http://forumbilder.se/images/534201091045P581d.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

@ kanterberg - great photos! I particularly like the coastal ones. Sweden seems to have such nice motorways and the traffic seems so orderly. I do hope to make it to Sweden at some point so that I can see your country (I'm just worried that I'll like it too much).

I meant to ask, how did the transition go from driving on the left to driving on the right? Were there many accidents, or was it a smooth transition? Was it done "overnight", or was it done region by region, or even county by county? I can only imagine the carnage that would occur if they tried to switch the UK (my homeland) to right hand drive, although now that I've lived in the US for +10 years, I actually prefer driving on the right, so driving on the left again would be weird.

I also like the lighting used on Swedish motorways - nice and wide.

Not really, indicators work so well in France, that they leave them on when overtaking. Also they keep to the inside better.

I don't like that particular habit of leaving your indicator on while overtaking. You only need to indicate prior to switching lanes. After that, stop indicating! That drove me nuts on French autoroutes and 'N' roads, but generally, I find the French to be pretty good drivers, though somewhat more aggressive than their British counterparts.

Not a very smooth transition, no :D

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Kungsgatan_1967.jpg

Go out to Calais on a Saturday afternoon, and see these British day trippers and bargain hunters driving on the wrong side of the road, and then suddenly swerve to the right. Even the signs that the desperate French authorities have placed telling people to keep right seem to be ignored everywhere...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7102/7093197801_26c0743544_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77138617@N05/7093197801/)
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5272/6947127566_cf0eee4a5f_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77138617@N05/6947127566/)
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5449/7093198719_5dabc0cb59_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77138617@N05/7093198719/)
This is what this part of the E4 looked on April 10th this year, a grey rainy day.

@ kanterberg - great photos! I particularly like the coastal ones. Sweden seems to have such nice motorways and the traffic seems so orderly. I do hope to make it to Sweden at some point so that I can see your country (I'm just worried that I'll like it too much).

I meant to ask, how did the transition go from driving on the left to driving on the right? Were there many accidents, or was it a smooth transition? Was it done "overnight", or was it done region by region, or even county by county? I can only imagine the carnage that would occur if they tried to switch the UK (my homeland) to right hand drive, although now that I've lived in the US for +10 years, I actually prefer driving on the right, so driving on the left again would be weird.

I also like the lighting used on Swedish motorways - nice and wide.

It was done overnight (5 a.m Sep. 3, 1967) nationwide, but obviously after months of preparations. The transition was actuallly quite smooth, and the number of accidents dropped dramatically in the years that followed. The main reason for this was probably that cars in Sweden always had the steering wheel on the left side, even with left-hand traffic. Another important reason was that Sweden introduced speed limits outside built-up areas the same year.

What's funny is that there was actually a referendum on the issue, the Yes (to right-hand traffic) lost and over 80% of the voters wanted to keep driving on the left, but the government ignored it.

Sweden also saw a number of new traffic regulations that came into effect together with right-hand traffic, for example the colour of the central divider line changed from yellow to white.

Add to that scenic rest areas, lots of service stations, many with restaurants. Many service stations are open 24h.



I dont agree with you on this, there are far to few service stations and restaurants along the motorways. Outside the major cities you are lucky if you find something proper to eat.

And I don't agree with you. Lots and lots and lots of service areas on Swedish motorways, often with McDonald's or Burger King's...

I dont agree with you on this, there are far to few service stations and restaurants along the motorways. Outside the major cities you are lucky if you find something proper to eat.

Depends on where you live. I drove all E4 from Helsingborg-Stockholm this year and there are numerous stops along the way.

Sillekrog, Stavsjö, Nyköpingsbro, Klinga, Herrbeta, Mobilia Mantorp, Östgötaporten...I can go on for ever. All those places have restaurants often McDonalds junk food.

In average it's about 50km between the truckstops.

E4 and E20 is filled with service areas, along the entire motorway routes.

This is Nyköpingsbro, my favourite stop on the way to Stockholm. All vikingline-buses stop here for about 45 min.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7262/7591836034_4fe19e0433_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77138617@N05/7591836034/)
9N5hM-0VbrQ
This restarea with truckers VIP-lounge opened in 1987.

Final go ahead for the strech "Pålen-Tanumshede" on E6! By the year 2015 the E6 will be a highway road from Malmö to Norwegian border at Strömstad.

http://www.trafikverket.se/Privat/Projekt/Vastra-Gotaland/E6-genom-Bohuslan/E6-delen-Palen-Tanumshede1/

Not a very smooth transition, no :D

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Kungsgatan_1967.jpg

^^^^Dagen H !!

Final go ahead for the strech "Pålen-Tanumshede" on E6! By the year 2015 the E6 will be a highway road from Malmö to Norwegian border at Strömstad.

http://www.trafikverket.se/Privat/Projekt/Vastra-Gotaland/E6-genom-Bohuslan/E6-delen-Palen-Tanumshede1/

Great news! But the E6 starts in Trelleborg, not Malmö, which makes it even longer. It will also be the only E-route in Sweden with motorway status for its entire length in the country, altogether almost 500 km.

It was done overnight (5 a.m Sep. 3, 1967) nationwide, but obviously after months of preparations. The transition was actuallly quite smooth, and the number of accidents dropped dramatically in the years that followed. The main reason for this was probably that cars in Sweden always had the steering wheel on the left side, even with left-hand traffic. Another important reason was that Sweden introduced speed limits outside built-up areas the same year.
What also helped is that people that are out of their comfort zone (for instance since they need to drive on the "wrong" side of the road) take precaution. Their driving style becomes more conservative and accordingly safer. That in itself was a basis for the reduction in accidents.

And of course, it needs to be taken into account that traffic volumes were relatively low at the time. If you did the same in Britain now, it's scale would be many times of what would have been done 45 years ago.

I believe that the Eastern bypass of Helsingborg is done. Route 111. The only section that still is not open yet, is -> http://maps.google.se/maps?hl=sv&tab=wl (between Vasatorpsvägen and Ängelsholmsleden).

Click here for a map showing the new E16 routing and other new road numbers in the area (http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/69198/e16_karta_inklusive_tidplan.pdf)

I wonder if this will be synchronized with the Norwegian renumbering, or will we have a situation where E 16 runs in to the less serious county road 200 in Norway. :)

Click here for a map showing the new E16 routing and other new road numbers in the area (http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/69198/e16_karta_inklusive_tidplan.pdf)
What a waste of money... :bash:

I wonder if this will be synchronized with the Norwegian renumbering, or will we have a situation where E 16 runs in to the less serious county road 200 in Norway. :)

This article says September for the part to Gardermoen, so I guess they're synchronized.
I september blir dette E16 (http://www.ringblad.no/nyheter/article6051293.ece)

How much will this renumbering cost?

Renumberings are fringe costs. Basically just placing some stickers.

Additionally, a new national road (Riksväg) will be created in southern Sweden between the E6 at Halmstad and the E22 at Pukavik. The road will become national road 15 (number of the current E22 until 1980). Between Markaryd and Osby the road was modernized from 2009 to 2011.

Map: http://is.gd/kPtDNo

Additionally, a new national road (Riksväg) will be created in southern Sweden between the E6 at Halmstad and the E22 at Pukavik. The road will become national road 15 (number of the current E22 until 1980).

I think the national road 69 Fagersta-Falun-Rättvik is a new one, too, isn't it? As the section from Fagersta to Falun is currently länsväg 270, about 50 km will be upgraded to a riksväg.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8439/7774812624_5184424e3d_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77398453@N05/7774812624/)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8297/7774806584_f990f34c55_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77398453@N05/7774806584/)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8425/7774801574_4527b8e7ed_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77398453@N05/7774801574/)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8432/7774818304_1496efa1b3_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77398453@N05/7774818304/)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8284/7774916152_1970cfed17_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77398453@N05/7774916152/)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8304/7774920732_006bb5b8f4_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77398453@N05/7774920732/)
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7117/7774911204_da81712d1e_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77398453@N05/7774911204/)

I personally don't like this concept of 2+1-roads that they are also planning to build in Finland, at least on main routes. A good excuse for not tu build a proper motorway.

I personally don't like this concept of 2+1-roads that they are also planning to build in Finland, at least on main routes. A good excuse for not tu build a proper motorway.

Yes but the 2+1 sections change frequently, so you don't have to wait long if you get behind a slow vehicle.

This particular section of the road 55 Norrköping-Katrineholm is not very busy.
Actually there is nothing but woods inbetween the cities, so a motorway will not be necessary.

I agree with that it is a useful solution for secondary roads as Road 55, but roads such as E4 should be full motorway because of it's importance and the frequency of long-distance-travelling, even if the AADT is 1-3 thousand cars below 10 000. In Spain most rural motorways have an AADT of just 4000-8000.

In Spain most rural motorways have an AADT of just 4000-8000.

That might be one of the reasons behind the financial crisis in Spain.

Not really, those motorways cost a fraction of what they cost in other countries. Typically only 2 - 4 million per kilometer.

Depends on where you live. I drove all E4 from Helsingborg-Stockholm this year and there are numerous stops along the way.

Sillekrog, Stavsjö, Nyköpingsbro, Klinga, Herrbeta, Mobilia Mantorp, Östgötaporten...I can go on for ever. All those places have restaurants often McDonalds junk food.

In average it's about 50km between the truckstops.

Yes its a lot better if you go south of Stockholm but the food is still of poor quality (with a few exceptions). If you go north though the situation is really bad.

Yes its a lot better if you go south of Stockholm but the food is still of poor quality (with a few exceptions). If you go north though the situation is really bad.

Usually places along the motorways sell Mcjunk-food.

But, I have dined at Nyköpingsbro and I think its a decent lunch restaurant as most restaurants of "Diners" and "Rasta".

I also remember dining at Herrbeta, Östgötaporten and the old Rasta at Rök, Östergötland before they built the new motorway-stretch Mjölby-Ödeshög, quite tasty but fat food. Look at the physics of truckdrivers and you realize what kind of food they eat on the road.

I have been on the road quite a lot this summer, I drove to Stockholm, Gränna, Örebro, Flen and gained weight. I weigh 78kg now so I prefer staying at home and eat my homecooked meals !

McDonalds junk???

The Marché restaurants are pretty decent. Don't you have any of those? Otherwise, even most gas stations offer more healthy alternatives these days.

Riksväg (National route) 73, Stockholm - Nynäshamn.

Riksväg 73 connects Stockholm and Nynäshamn, a distance of about 60 kms. Nynäshamn has roughly 13 000 inhabitants and is also an important harbour, with passenger traffic to - among other places - Gdansk in Poland.

The last section of the motorway was opened to traffic in 2010. AADT varies between 55000 (near Stockholm) to around 10 000 on the section closest to Nynäshamn. One of only a few motorways in Sweden without numbered exits.

http://forumbilder.se/images/de5201292711P4e82.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

1:Riksväg 73 is not signed as a motorway as it leaves Stockholm, although there are no level-crossings. Speed limit 70 km/h.
http://forumbilder.se/images/ae5201290019Pf62e.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

2:
http://forumbilder.se/images/fa5201290112P9dc4.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

3:
http://forumbilder.se/images/975201290142Pc121.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

4:
http://forumbilder.se/images/a45201290228Pda76.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

5:
http://forumbilder.se/images/725201290304Pb5db.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

6:
http://forumbilder.se/images/175201290348P0f09.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

7:Motorway from Trafikplats Gubbängen, but the speed limit is kept at 70 until the next exit.
http://forumbilder.se/images/9d5201290444P88c5.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

8:
http://forumbilder.se/images/aa5201290526P6601.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

9:
http://forumbilder.se/images/bd5201290624P94cf.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

10:
http://forumbilder.se/images/e55201290700P7680.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

11:
http://forumbilder.se/images/9f5201290733P0526.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

12:
http://forumbilder.se/images/9a5201290805P1de8.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

13:
http://forumbilder.se/images/cb5201290845Pf985.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

14:
http://forumbilder.se/images/185201290914Paf93.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

15:
http://forumbilder.se/images/195201290947Pcb56.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

16:
http://forumbilder.se/images/825201291015Pddec.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

17:
http://forumbilder.se/images/c25201291051Pac9e.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

18:
http://forumbilder.se/images/015201291124P103b.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

19:
http://forumbilder.se/images/bd5201291227Pd8d6.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

20:
http://forumbilder.se/images/f35201291303Pb7d2.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

21:
http://forumbilder.se/images/7b5201291341P3e9a.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

22:
http://forumbilder.se/images/7c5201291412P1dab.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

23:
http://forumbilder.se/images/655201291519P4d4c.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

24:
http://forumbilder.se/images/275201291600P15d9.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

25:
http://forumbilder.se/images/335201291643P0567.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

26:
http://forumbilder.se/images/a75201291711P36ec.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

27:
http://forumbilder.se/images/8c5201291749P7648.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

30:
http://forumbilder.se/images/c05201291826Pc7a5.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

31:
http://forumbilder.se/images/3b5201291859P013c.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

32:
http://forumbilder.se/images/975201291934P2e36.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

33:
http://forumbilder.se/images/f65201292010Pc29e.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

34:
http://forumbilder.se/images/2a5201292038P6847.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

35:
http://forumbilder.se/images/c95201292111P448d.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

36:
http://forumbilder.se/images/805201292146P78b0.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

37:
http://forumbilder.se/images/6c5201292219P8c55.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

38:Wildlife fence ends
http://forumbilder.se/images/a45201292304P4ffb.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

39: The speed limit is reduced close to Nynäshamn
http://forumbilder.se/images/5f5201292342Pfc23.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

40:
http://forumbilder.se/images/aa5201292415P779f.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

41:The last few kms is a normal country road.
http://forumbilder.se/images/f05201292447P6d69.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

No exit numbers, the way it's mean't to be.

I drove that road many times. The 70 km/h speed limit on the "Nynäsvägen" is easy to exceed, many drivers tend to do that.

Nice report. 70 km/h is really too slow except for the situation in the first two photos.

Nice report. 70 km/h is really too slow except for the situation in the first two photos.

I agree, especially the situation in picture 7 with two 3,75 (or possibly 3,5m) lanes, crash barriers and emergency lanes. It does become 90 after picture 9 and then 110.


No exit numbers, the way it's mean't to be.
You don't like exit numbering per se or just not the current design? Personally I prefer the Norwegian design much more, where it's integrated in the sign. Also, I've never understood why our exit signs are yellow...

Norway, overhead sign (photo: @Ingenioren)
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss282/Ingenioren3/Til%20Strommen/DSC_0145.jpg

Swedish overhead, exit symbol on the side.
http://forumbilder.se/images/e23201073732P35af.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

You don't like exit numbering per se or just not the current design? Personally I prefer the Norwegian design much more, where it's integrated in the sign. Also, I've never understood why our exit signs are yellow...
I'm not very fond of the exit numbers at all, but my biggest gripe with having them is indeed the current implementation. My suggestion would be to put a supplementary sign on the "Trafikplats" signs instead of every exit sign.

Illustration:
http://www.majhost.com/gallery/riiga/Skyltar/avfart-omdesign.png

That might be one of the reasons behind the financial crisis in Spain.

That's obvious, but I just showed this as an exaple.

You have really decent motorways in the Stockholm area, 3+3-laned as it should be.

....Also, I've never understood why our exit signs are yellow...
...

Quebec has yellow ones too:

http://www.barraclou.com/photo/highway/quebec10_sortie143_3.jpg

http://www.mtq.gouv.qc.ca/portal/page/portal/Librairie/Images/Fr/regions/monteregie_est/renumerotation%20a20%20r132/renumerotation1.JPG

I drove that road many times. The 70 km/h speed limit on the "Nynäsvägen" is easy to exceed, many drivers tend to do that.

Same with E4/E20 through Stockholm.

There was an accident on the E4 north of Stockholm this morning where someone hit the gantry and caused it to collapse. The accident happened at 5 a.m. and the road was closed southbound for at least three hours.

It does rise the question if Swedish gantry signs are robust enough. After all, that road carries over 100 000 cars a day and one can only imagine what could have happened if that accidents had occurred at rush hour traffic.

Here's a picture someone sent to a newspaper (http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/olycka-pa-e4---vagportal-rasade/).

http://forumbilder.se/images/3f82012105154ca32.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

It is Trafikplats Järva Krog, here's an older picture.

http://forumbilder.se/images/513201072043P654d.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

I wondered about those gantries before. The gantries look very flimsy. How do they hold out with high winds?

I drove that road many times. The 70 km/h speed limit on the "Nynäsvägen" is easy to exceed, many drivers tend to do that.

Its to wide, they should narrow it down and cobblestone it or something. I mean its almost a inner city street through enskede it doesnt have to be motorway standard.

That section carries over 40.000 vehicles per day, so it's rightfully an expressway. A tunnel would be better, but downgrading it to cobblestones is nonsense.

I wondered about those gantries before. The gantries look very flimsy. How do they hold out with high winds?

I've never heard about them falling down because of strong wind, but I don't have any hard data.

I can see how gantry design is challenging ; on the one hand you want them to be robust enough not to fall down and potentially killing people, on the other hand you want them to be soft enough so that people can survive crashing into them. It certainly seems like the current Swedish design doesn't meet both objectives, at least not when they are packed with both ordinary signs and electronic equipment.

That section carries over 40.000 vehicles per day, so it's rightfully an expressway. A tunnel would be better, but downgrading it to cobblestones is nonsense.

A tunnel would be much better given the residential areas around the road. It is a very unpleasant area at the moment. That would also free up a new tract of land as the road doesn't need to be as wide as it is currently if it were tunnelled.

^^Well, reducing capacity on that road is completely unrealistic. The long term plan is, and always has been, some kind of tunnel solution, but that lies way into the future. However, the construction that is visible is my report is for a coming noise barrier. It will look something like this:

http://forumbilder.se/images/538201232551Pc699.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

According to plans, the noise barrier will reduce the "noise pollution" from about 76-77dB to about 60dB, which is actually lower than on a normal city street. In addition, all buildings near the road have had 3-glass windows installed on the city's expense.

Today:
http://forumbilder.se/images/ae5201290019Pf62e.jpg (http://forumbilder.se)

Now Trafikverket (Swedish Road Administration) have started to change all the road signs along old "riksväg 80" to "E16", and it seems to be completed already in the Gävle - Sandviken area.

Thought I could share some pictures:

And a very nice bonus with Gävle getting this new E-road, is that Gävle now will replace Sundsvall as the signed city along E4 from Stockholm when driving north! :) Thats good! I think this is becauseTrafikverket uses the next city with a connecting E-road as signed city along E-routes. Don´t know if they have started to change those signs between Stockholm and Gävle yet though, or if they will start doing that when they are done with the E16 itself.

Along the Swedish stretch of E16 (360 km) they will put up 453 new signs and 178 cover plates.

1.
http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/4645/e162.jpg

2.
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/4062/e161.jpg

3.
http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/7537/e164.jpg

4.
http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/6462/e163.jpg

And a nice winter view over the interchange where E16 meets E4:
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/3092/703235037.jpg

I think this is becauseTrafikverket uses the next city with a connecting E-road as signed city along E-routes.

Really? In that case the control city for the E4 southbound from Stockholm should be Norrköping (E22) and not Helsingborg. Same thing from Sundsvall, it should be Umeå (E12) but if I remember correctly the control city becomes Haparanda?


2.
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/4062/e161.jpg

As if Swedish signage wasn't cluttered enough already... is it really necessary to have one sign per lane here with essentially the same information?

And a nice winter view over the interchange where E16 meets E4:
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/3092/703235037.jpg

Beautiful... and probably not any capacity problems for the next 200 years or so... :)

As if Swedish signage wasn't cluttered enough already... is it really necessary to have one sign per lane here with essentially the same information?
Indeed, they could've signed it like this instead.
http://www.majhost.com/gallery/riiga/Skyltar/e16.png

As if Swedish signage wasn't cluttered enough already... is it really necessary to have one sign per lane here with essentially the same information?


The information is not the same. You can easily see the difference. The ramp to Stockholm begins almost immediately after the sign. It would be a mistake to guide the Stockholm-bound traffic onto the left lane.

^^ That is the classic struggle of road sign designers.

Maybe this will do?
http://www.majhost.com/gallery/riiga/Skyltar/e16-alt.png

Really? In that case the control city for the E4 southbound from Stockholm should be Norrköping (E22) and not Helsingborg. Same thing from Sundsvall, it should be Umeå (E12) but if I remember correctly the control city becomes Haparanda?

Sadly (for Gävle...) that info was wrong! I got it from the local paper a few days ago, and today there was a correction in the paper saying that they had gotten all that info wrong :( So it will still be Sundsvall as control city from Stockholm... :(



As if Swedish signage wasn't cluttered enough already... is it really necessary to have one sign per lane here with essentially the same information?
Hehe, I think there are two separate signs because in the right lane you have the exit to E4 south / Stockholm coming right up soon. Otherwise it would certainly just be one I´m sure.

I'm sorry, but it doesn't appear to me why the 68 nor even the 56 is signed there at all. Shouldn't E-routes just be E-routes, and then the national routes start where they start? Dual-signing this route for 40 km seems irrelevant. The 68 seems to be a more regional route, and not even a standard route for Örebro.

I'm sorry, but it doesn't appear to me why the 68 nor even the 56 is signed there at all. Shouldn't E-routes just be E-routes, and then the national routes start where they start? Dual-signing this route for 40 km seems irrelevant. The 68 seems to be a more regional route, and not even a standard route for Örebro.

It is the Swedish way to sign the routes in the end-to-end manner. Even if it leads to multiplexing, it is a traveller-friendly approach. I like it.

Especially in this case where substandard forest paths were nominated an European road, the European road numbering should not override the national one.

It is the Swedish way to sign the routes in the end-to-end manner. Even if it leads to multiplexing, it is a traveller-friendly approach. I like it.

I disagree, all the multiplexing and cluttered signs certainly do not provide a "traveller-friendly" environment for a driver. The E4/E16/56/68 interchange is a good example, there are many others all around the country.

Another problem with sticking to this principle is that sometimes the most logical route is not the signed route. The classic example is Stockholm-Göteborg where the fastest, shortest and safest route is E4 to Jönköping and Road 40 to Göteborg. Still, because of the obsession with end-to-end-signage, all the road signs tell you to take E20.

The latest videos about Norra Länken in Stockholm.

M7ZdsslakW4

FdYkU-acQFs

I've never heard about them falling down because of strong wind, but I don't have any hard data.

I can see how gantry design is challenging ; on the one hand you want them to be robust enough not to fall down and potentially killing people, on the other hand you want them to be soft enough so that people can survive crashing into them. It certainly seems like the current Swedish design doesn't meet both objectives, at least not when they are packed with both ordinary signs and electronic equipment.

I've thought to myself before that Swedish gantry look flimsy as well. They also in some areas seem way to close to the travel lanes as well, though in some areas I understand there is no other option due to limited space. It also seems the gantry is latticed? Is that the term for that metal design? Is Ice buildup an issue in winter?
In the U.S. I like the way Colorado for example uses these rounded solid gantries on Interstates. At any rate the ones in the U.S. look like they would kill anyone they fell on.

I disagree, all the multiplexing and cluttered signs certainly do not provide a "traveller-friendly" environment for a driver. The E4/E16/56/68 interchange is a good example, there are many others all around the country.

Another problem with sticking to this principle is that sometimes the most logical route is not the signed route. The classic example is Stockholm-Göteborg where the fastest, shortest and safest route is E4 to Jönköping and Road 40 to Göteborg. Still, because of the obsession with end-to-end-signage, all the road signs tell you to take E20.

Agreed. E4 + Rv 40 should be the signed route. Also the remaining 2+1 strech west of Jönköping should be upgraded as soon as possible. It's a shame that there's no complete motorway connection between the nations largest cities.

It's a shame that there's no complete motorway connection between the nations largest cities.

No complete motorway between the largest cities. Remember that there is not much civilisation between these largest cities, also a "large city" in Sweden means 50.000 inhabitants.

We can't expect motorways to be built between all "large cities" when the population density is 21,9 inhabitants/km².

I don't think motorway is necessary between Jönköping-Borås, a 2+1 road will do for now in such a desolete section of the road 40. Same thing with the E20 from Stockholm-Göteborg. No need to upgrade all that motorway because it connects two large cities.

I recently drove the 2+1 road Norrköping-Katrineholm and it worked just fine, 2+1 roads also keeps the pace down.

I think most forumers here are a bit too enthustiastic about building motorways.

I would rather see the railway Jönköping-Borås be built before the motorway.

I've thought to myself before that Swedish gantry look flimsy as well. They also in some areas seem way to close to the travel lanes as well, though in some areas I understand there is no other option due to limited space. It also seems the gantry is latticed? Is that the term for that metal design? Is Ice buildup an issue in winter?


The trussed structure is not less rigid than a solid one by nature. Look at big tower cranes, for instance. They all are truss structured.

The gantry structure seen in the photos is in use in Finland, too, without problems. Any structure can collapse at a collision. If the structure is lightweight and energy absorbing, it is much safer at a collision than a heavyweight one.

The ice buildup typically is not a problem. In the arctic areas, the "snow shocks" are the key driver of the strength calculations of large roadside traffic signs: The ploughing might throw several hundred kilograms of snow and ice at the traffic sign at a high speed. The gantries are not targets of snow shocks.

No complete motorway between the largest cities. Remember that there is not much civilisation between these largest cities, also a "large city" in Sweden means 50.000 inhabitants.

We can't expect motorways to be built between all "large cities" when the population density is 21,9 inhabitants/km².

I don't think motorway is necessary between Jönköping-Borås, a 2+1 road will do for now in such a desolete section of the road 40. Same thing with the E20 from Stockholm-Göteborg. No need to upgrade all that motorway because it connects two large cities.

I recently drove the 2+1 road Norrköping-Katrineholm and it worked just fine, 2+1 roads also keeps the pace down.

I think most forumers here are a bit too enthustiastic about building motorways.

I would rather see the railway Jönköping-Borås be built before the motorway.

Well, I'm fairly sure what metasmurf meant by motorway connection between the largest cities was a motorway connecting Stockholm and Göteborg. No one is suggesting connecting all major towns even if your 50 000-inhabitant definition for a "large city" is just that; your own definition. Statistics Sweden (SCB) has it at 200 000 and I believe the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKL) still only define Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö as large cities (storstad). Motorways connecting those three cities are certainly both desirable and justified, especially when it also means connecting three Scandinavian capitals.

When it comes to 2+1 roads I think there are many good arguments to build more of them, especially on sections where a full motorway isn't needed. To suggest that they help "keeping down the pace", however, does not make much sense. In fact, one of the great benefits of the 2+1 roads is the increased speed limit.

I disagree, all the multiplexing and cluttered signs certainly do not provide a "traveller-friendly" environment for a driver. The E4/E16/56/68 interchange is a good example, there are many others all around the country.

I would not call a direction sign with three road numbers and five destinations a cluttered one, especially if repeated.

Sweden seems to follow a strategy to consolidate the road numbers in order to create continuous numbering for several hundred kilometres. That strategy will lead to multiplexing in between the routes, too. I cannot understand why the multiplexing at the ends of the route would be more harmful.

Finland followed earlier a rather strict rule to not display the road numbers before they branch. That approach was found impractical one, and now those number are displayed again, with dashed frames:

https://maps.google.fi/maps?q=kokkola&hl=fi&ll=63.829409,23.159866&spn=0.014271,0.041499&sll=63.583819,27.231545&sspn=0.014472,0.041499&hnear=Kokkola&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=63.829216,23.159997&panoid=vWRn-vR9B0ONj-XjxV0eMQ&cbp=12,334.52,,2,-8.17
https://maps.google.fi/maps?q=munkkivuori&hl=fi&ll=60.204346,24.880772&spn=0.016079,0.041499&sll=64.269535,27.854333&sspn=0.014122,0.041499&hnear=Munkkivuori,+Helsinki&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=60.204474,24.880728&panoid=rfKlTCehOgImmQqjQ4Ad3Q&cbp=12,180.63,,1,-11.22

The strategy of long roads is subject to criticism, of course. It leads to rather funny solutions like the road 37 Växjö-Oskarshamn: Of its length of 122 km, only 24 km is not multiplexed with other roads.

(I did some comparison between the recents maps and my Norden Atlas from 1981. Sweden seems to very interested in playing the number changing game.)

Another problem with sticking to this principle is that sometimes the most logical route is not the signed route. The classic example is Stockholm-Göteborg where the fastest, shortest and safest route is E4 to Jönköping and Road 40 to Göteborg. Still, because of the obsession with end-to-end-signage, all the road signs tell you to take E20.Pure speculation: The E20 Stockholm-Göteborg might be a special case. Earlier it was E3 and thus part of the crown jewels because of the 'good' small number. The routing of E20 via Göteborg and Stockholm opposed to the initial proposal by the UNECE was a creative kludge possibly justified by the crown jewel status. If the Stockholm-Göterborg route were signed over Jönköping, the E20 might lose its status as an European road.

Anyway, I think most people plan their long-haul routes based on maps rather than the en-route traffic signs. If there is a numbered route between Gävle and Örebro, I see practical to show the signs for the whole route, not between a some place near Gävle to some place near Örebro.

They should sign Örebro instead of Gothenburg on the E20. And after Örebro, Gothenburg can once again be the control city. Surely this will mean less confusion.

I think the Swedish system is pretty much the same as in England. There are only few control cities. The main ones are London, Birmingham, Hull,Manchester and Dover. Everything else is the North, the South, the North-East, the West and South Wales. Bigger cities in between are signposted in interfalls. Same as in Sweden, where nearly everything leads to Stockholm, Helsingborg or Gothenburg. Everything else, with the exception of Jonkoping on the E4 route is unimportant.

Nice new video - from Malmö to Kalmar on the E22:

SVPs7aS1E4M

Nice new video - from Malmö to Kalmar on the E22:

SVPs7aS1E4M

nice video, cheers:-)
a bit of a deja vu feeling for me
had driven this road so many times between 2000 & 2006 while still being student at the Lund University..Some things have certainly changed since then
especially when it comes to the strech between Lund and Kristianstad

Cool video, even if it´s over 20 min long.
Nice to finally see quite some construction on the E22! :)

Have just driven that entire route once myself, like 7-8 years ago... Have been driving on some parts of E22 in Scania and around Kalmar more recently though :)

E22 starts at Amsterdam, and goes into Germany, and somewhere after Lübeck it turns into a swimming route, as it disappears into the sea, until it shows up in Sweden again. There might be more then one Atlantis after all...

E22 starts in Holyhead ;) And it runs to Ishim. Its distance is 5.289 kilometers, of which 3.077 kilometers is in Russia.

The wettest E-route in Europe. Is there no Irish version of the 22?

E18, E20, E22 & E25 all have three ferry routes. I'm not sure whether all these ferry routes actually exist.

E90 has four ferry routes, though two of them are very short and could be replaced by bridges in the future.

There are three very long ferry routes;

E1 La Coruña - Rosslare
E60 Constanta - Poti
E90 Barcelona - Mazaro del Valle

E18, E20, E22 & E25 all have three ferry routes. I'm not sure whether all these ferry routes actually exist.

E90 has four ferry routes, though two of them are very short and could be replaced by bridges in the future.

There are three very long ferry routes;

E1 La Coruña - Rosslare
E60 Constanta - Poti
E90 Barcelona - Mazaro del Valle

There are no ferry routes on the E22.

E15 begins right at the ferry terminal in Calais, but there is no English version as far as I know.

There are no ferry routes on the E22.

Wrong. The ferry Trelleborg-Sassnitz connects Germany & Sweden.

New ferry routes?

New ferry routes?

Trelleborg-Sassnitz is quite an old ferry route.

E15 begins right at the ferry terminal in Calais, but there is no English version as far as I know.

Is there any English (or British) E-route at all, except on paper?

Yes there are. British roads have been allocated as E-routes, although the British are refusing to signpost them. The Irish are making a bit more of an effort.

^^I came to my interest in roads through a childhood obsession with maps, and generally I like to understand how things work. (So I'm interested in the geography of roads more than roads as such: I don't know or care about lane counts and the merits of various pavement types except in areas where I actually drive regularly.) So I started by trying to understand the development of numbering systems in the U.S., then memorizing the Interstates....

So I tend to treat unmarked routes as fictitious: there are a handful of so-called "unsigned Interstates" in the U.S. (typically short, three-digit routes in urban areas) which I ignore when I'm going over the system in my head; to my way of thinking, if it's not marked - not visible to the public - it may as well not exist and it certainly shouldn't be shown on maps (because someone might actually try to follow I-345 having seen it on their map of Dallas, and then not be able to find it because it's not on the signs). As far as I can tell, British mapmakers feel the same way about British E-routes. ;-)

Hence my...irritation...with the lackadaisical French treatment of their route numbers (I just posted about that in whatever thread you were talking about French signs in), and with Belgium's not usually posting their A-routes (which is a system that has a nice internal logic, AND appears on most if not all maps).

Yes there are. British roads have been allocated as E-routes, although the British are refusing to signpost them. The Irish are making a bit more of an effort.

UK has signed the AGR agreement 1976 but never ratified it. Ireland has not signed nor ratified.

But still displayed on some roads.

Nice bridge replacement project on E4 north of Stockholm. You don't see this construction method frequently.

_ZMieFjnFvg

E18, E20, E22 & E25 all have three ferry routes. I'm not sure whether all these ferry routes actually exist.

E90 has four ferry routes, though two of them are very short and could be replaced by bridges in the future.

There are three very long ferry routes;

E1 La Coruña - Riddle
E60 Constanta - Poti
E90 Barcelona - Mazaro del Valle

E39 has 9 ferry routes! (will be 8 in September)

E39 has 9 ferry routes! (will be 8 in September)

No, it has ten routes, nine in September. You might have forgotten the Hirtshals-Kristiansand ferry route across Skagerrak.

These are real routes, not theoretical ones like the E01 gap between Spain and Ireland.

No, it has ten routes, nine in September. You might have forgotten the Hirtshals-Kristiansand ferry route across Skagerrak.


Halsa-Kanestraum, Molde-Vestnes, Sula-Festøy, Volda-Folkestad (to be bypassed), Lote-Anda, Oppedal-Lavik, Halhjem-Sandvikvåg, Mortavika-Arsvågen and Kristiansand-Hirtshals makes nine, not ten, in my book. Have I forgotten any..?

Cool video, even if it´s over 20 min long.
Nice to finally see quite some construction on the E22! :)

Have just driven that entire route once myself, like 7-8 years ago... Have been driving on some parts of E22 in Scania and around Kalmar more recently though :)

I've driven between Karlskrona and Kalmar about a dozen times on E22 and tried some alternative routes at other times. The best option during summer season (and sometimes during normal time of the year depending on when the lorries to/from the ferries in Karlskrona arrive) is to turn off E22 near Söderåkra, drive on road 130 to Torsås, once there turn left and right to Flyeryd (the name of the street is even "Karlskronavägen"). That way you'll have a lot less traffic and you'll also experience one of the straightest roads the Swedish road network has to offer (even if it's signed 70 km/h you can for long stretches go up to 100 km/h with ease, no one I've met there has ever stuck to the speed limit), plus the landscape is way more beautiful, driving by lakes and streams surrounded with oak and beech forests you won't see from E22 :) Better still, the route is even shorter than E22 :)

Coming south is a bit trickier to find the route, you have to exit at Tpl Karlskrona Öst, drive road 28 to the north until you see the sign "Lyckeåborg" and turn on to that road, from there it's signed towards Torsås.

The reason they don't want to promote this stretch is not just because of increasing the risk for accidents (it's at parts a veery straight road, many drivers could probably fall asleep) but also from what I've heard that since the road follows the stream Lyckeå, an accident where a car crashed into the water there would pollute the local water supply.

E4 Sundsvall - Haparanda

I've been thinking of doing this for a while but never gotten around to it until now. What I wanted to make is a route description in terms of road standards, and also to cover future plans for this stretch. When looking in google maps, its impossible to see what standards this road have. Apart from the official motorway or "motortrafikled" classified stretches, one could get the impression that the rest is just regular 2-lane road, which is far from the truth.

So, let's start with the first part

All 2+1/2+2 have wire fence or other types of divider.

Green = Motorway
Light green = Motortrafikled
Yellow = Grade separated 2+1, essentially up to motortrafikled standard.
Orange = Grade separated 2+2, essentially up to motortrafikled/motorway standard
Blue = 2+1 with at grade intersections or mixed grade separated/at grade.
Dark Blue = 2+2 with at grade intersections or mixed grade separated/at grade.
Black = Regular 2-lane road
Red = Slow speed 2-lane road/city street with two our four lanes, traffic lights, roundabouts etc.

http://i.imgur.com/hPwAg.png

Part 1 Sundsvall - Umeå (268km)

1. Sundsvall - Timrå 15km motorway
2. Timrå - Midlanda Airport 6km motortrafikled (grade separated 2+1)
3. Midlanda Airport - Kittjärn (Härnösand) 25km 2+1 with mixed grade separated and at grate intersections.
4. Kittjärn - Härnösand 5km 2-lane highway/2+2 city street with traffic lights.
5. Härnösand - Lövvik 3km 2+1 one grade separated intersections.
6. Lövvik - Älandsbro 2km 2-lane road.
7. Through Älandsbro 1,5km village road/thoroughfare
8. Älandsbro - Överdal 3,5km 2-lane road.
9. Överdal - Gallsäter 31km grade separated 2+1, essentially up to "motortrafikled" standard. Over the High Coast Bridge, the road is 2+2.
10. Gallsäter - Ullånger 10km 2+1 all crossings at grade.
11. Ullånger - Docksta 12km 2-lane road.
12. Docksta - Örnsköldsvik 36km 2+1, two grade separated intersections.
13. Through Örnsköldsvik - 5km 2-lane road/2+2 City street. Roundabouts and traffic lights.
14. Örnsköldsvik - Arnäsvall 3,5km grade separated 2+2 essentially up to "motortrafikled" standard.
15. Arnäsvall - Stöcksjö 96km 2+1 with mixed grade separated and at grade intersections.
16. Stöcksjö - Söderslätt (Umeå) 4,5km 2+2 with motorway width, essentially up to motorway standard.
17. Söderslätt (Umeå) - Carlshem (Umeå) 3km 2+1 with roundabouts.
18. Carlshem (Umeå) - Ersboda (Umeå) Completed 2012-10-06 2+2 with roundabouts, one grade separated intersection.

Future plans

Probably before 2021

1. Ullånger - Docksta 12km, upgrade to 2+1 with barrier.

After 2021

1. Härnösand bypass (Kittjärn - Överdal)

http://i.imgur.com/fpB2f.jpg

A 2+1 western bypass with three grade separated intersections. Would shorten E4 with around 4-5km and also bypass Älandsbro.

2. Örnsköldsvik bypass/Åsbergstunneln

http://i.imgur.com/6M9eG.jpg

A bypass of motorway standard mostly in tunnel. Building was supposed to start 2015-2016 but was canceled. A new investigation will be made, though building will not start before 2021.



Next part will be Umeå - Piteå. Should be in a few days or so...

^^ Liked your graph!

A pity they couldn't make it all the way 2x2 :(

Traffic volumes are mostly between 4.000 and 8.000 vehicles per day north of Sundsvall (between cities).

[B]Part 1 Sundsvall - Umeå (268km)

1. Sundsvall - Timrå 15km motorway
2. Timrå - Midlanda Airport 6km motortrafikled (grade separated 2+1)
3. Midlanda Airport - Kittjärn (Härnösand) 25km 2+1 with mixed grade separated and at grate intersections.
4. Kittjärn - Härnösand 5km 2-lane highway/2+2 city street with traffic lights.
5. Härnösand - Lövvik 3km 2+1 one grade separated intersections.
6. Lövvik - Älandsbro 2km 2-lane road.
7. Through Älandsbro 1,5km village road/thoroughfare
8. Älandsbro - Överdal 3,5km 2-lane road.
9. Överdal - Gallsäter 31km grade separated 2+1, essentially up to "motortrafikled" standard. Over the High Coast Bridge, the road is 2+2.
10. Gallsäter - Ullånger 10km 2+1 all crossings at grade.
11. Ullånger - Docksta 12km 2-lane road.
12. Docksta - Örnsköldsvik 36km 2+1, two grade separated intersections.
13. Through Örnsköldsvik - 5km 2-lane road/2+2 City street. Roundabouts and traffic lights.
14. Örnsköldsvik - Arnäsvall 3,5km grade separated 2+2 essentially up to "motortrafikled" standard.
15. Arnäsvall - Stöcksjö 96km 2+1 with mixed grade separated and at grade intersections.
16. Stöcksjö - Söderslätt (Umeå) 4,5km 2+2 with motorway width, essentially up to motorway standard.
17. Söderslätt (Umeå) - Carlshem (Umeå) 3km 2+1 with roundabouts.
18. Carlshem (Umeå) - Ersboda (Umeå) Completed 2012-10-06 2+2 with roundabouts, one grade separated intersection.


This is well in line with my observations about how the roads are upgraded in Sweden: In short stretches thus making the roads changing the type often.

To compare with the longest route in Finland, the south-north backbone 4/E75 Helsinki-Utsjoki, total length 1280 kilometres:

- Km 0-12, 12 km, streets in Helsinki
- Km 12-146, 134 km, motorway
- Km 146-260, 114 km, 1+1 road with overtaking lanes
- Km 260-262, 2 km, streets in Vaajakoski
- Km 262-268, 6 km, motorway
- Km 268-276, 8 km, 2+2 road
- Km 276-310, 34 km, 1+1 road
- Km 310-404, 94 km, 1+1 road with overtaking lanes
- Km 404-584, 180 km, 1+1 road
- Km 584-620, 36 km, motorway
- Km 620-692, 72 km, 1+1 road
- Km 692-722, 20 km, motorway
- Km 722-840, 118 km, 1+1 road
- Km 840-845, 5 km, 2+2 road
- Km 845-1280, 435 km, 1+1 road

E4 Sundsvall - Haparanda

Part 2 Umeå - Piteå (207km)

Green = Motorway
Light green = Motortrafikled
Yellow = Grade separated 2+1, essentially up to motortrafikled standard.
Orange = Grade separated 2+2, essentially up to motortrafikled/motorway standard
Blue = 2+1 with at grade intersections or mixed grade separated/at grade.
Dark Blue = 2+2 with at grade intersections or mixed grade separated/at grade.
Black = Regular 2-lane road
Red = Slow speed 2-lane road/city street with two our four lanes, traffic lights, roundabouts etc.
Brown = Under construction

http://i.imgur.com/eBFPJ.jpg

1. Ersboda (Umeå) - Djäkneboda 27km 2+1, two grade separated intersections.
2. Djäkneboda - Bygdeå 9km 2-lane road.
3. Bygdeå - Sikeå 12,5km 2+1 all intersections at grade.
4. Sikeå - Bureå 63km 2-lane road.
5. Bureå - Skellefteå 15km 2+1 grade separated essentially up to "motortrafikled" standard.
6. Through Skellefteå 5,5km 2/4 lane city street with roundabouts and traffic lights. one grade separated intersection.
7. Skellefteå - Byske 25km 2+2 grade separated essentially up to "motortrafikled" standard.
8. Byske - Kinnbäck 2+1 mostly grade separated.
9. Kinnbäck - Jävre 8,5km U/C upgrade to 2+1 with barrier. Building started August 2012.
10. Jävre - Piteå 23km 2+1 party grade separated.

Future Plans

Before 2021

As of now, none

After 2021

1. Djäkneboda - Bygdeå 9km upgrade to 2+1 with barrier.
2. Sikeå - Bureå 63km upgrade to 2+1 with barrier or "sparse 2+1", meaning partly 1+1/2+1 with barrier.
3. E4 Skellefteå

http://i.imgur.com/za3vk.jpg

Alternative 1 - Existing route. Building of a few roundabouts and some ramps.
Alternative 2 - Existing route, sunken. Building of a few roundabouts and some ramps.
Alternative 3 - New route south of Skellefteå River, connecting to the existing road "Östra Leden" north of the river. 2+1 14m south of the river, 2+2 16,5m north of the river. Grade separated intersections and roundabouts.

Part 3 Piteå - Haparanda will come in a few days.

This is well in line with my observations about how the roads are upgraded in Sweden: In short stretches thus making the roads changing the type often.

Well, maybe there's a rationale behind that. If a road changes often it's easier to keep the driver awake. Something to be much appreciated up in the north of the country, I guess ;)

Interesting landscaping / themes of underground interchanges. It may be a little too distracting though.

vKqXz-kI7fQ

They already have some cool "lighttowers" / "lightarches" in the tunnels in Stockholm, it's quite fun to drive through.

Looks like an Arab Emirate-style waste of money to me.

It's not waste of money if it saves life. The purpose is to prevent drivers to fall asleep apart from beeing an art experience.

Yeah right. If drivers are tired, they will fall asleep even with pretty lights in a tunnel for a few seconds.

It's not waste of money if it saves life. The purpose is to prevent drivers to fall asleep apart from beeing an art experience.

Most motorways have "soundmarks" or what ever you call them, when passing the marks the vibrations make a noise and the tired driver revives.

Not for long.

It's not waste of money if it saves life. The purpose is to prevent drivers to fall asleep apart from beeing an art experience.

I don't think the value of the potential deaths avoided will be higher than the cost of these precious pieces of art altogether.

I don't know if that would really save lives. Other tunnels don't have it and none of the motorways at night have it.

I don't know if that would really save lives. Other tunnels don't have it and none of the motorways at night have it.

Are those two sentences completely separate statements, or did you actually intend some logical connection between them?

If you can fall asleep in a tunnel, you could also fall asleep on the open motorway at night. How big of a problem is this actually? It looks more like some luxurious landscaping than an essential addition to keep tunnels safe.

If you can fall asleep in a tunnel, you could also fall asleep on the open motorway at night. How big of a problem is this actually? It looks more like some luxurious landscaping than an essential addition to keep tunnels safe.

Not luxurious necessarily. The decorations do not add much on top of the construction cost. In general, the cost of white light does not differ much from blue light, for instance.

Anyway, it is rather a common way to build something interesting to see along the roads in the Scandinavian countries. They can help keeping the driver alert, as least during the dark season.

In Finland, the roundabouts often show something related to the place they are located in:

http://moumou.indiedays.netdna-cdn.com/files/2012/07/P7215226.jpg


http://www.ess.fi/upload/image/2012/8/1/672893.jpg

http://img.yle.fi/uutiset/arkisto/article5678980.ece/ALTERNATES/w580/

Interesting landscaping / themes of underground interchanges. It may be a little too distracting though.

vKqXz-kI7fQ

I'm surprised by the number of left exits shown in that video. However, regarding projected traffic streams it might prove to be less of an issue. I'm wondering if it's a conscious decision to reduce the need for weaving (an older video also shows left entries.)

I'm surprised by the number of left exits shown in that video. However, regarding projected traffic streams it might prove to be less of an issue. I'm wondering if it's a conscious decision to reduce the need for weaving (an older video also shows left entries.)

I don't think this will be an issue when driving 70 km/h. I mean, it is just a little faster than an average urban road.

If you can fall asleep in a tunnel, you could also fall asleep on the open motorway at night. How big of a problem is this actually?

Drowsiness is one of the most common causes of road accidents. Many people are killed every year. Montononous roads is a contributry factor to drowsiness.

Your argument is like saying (in 1970) that there's no need for airbags because if there were, cars would have airbags.

I meant to say, how big of a problem is this in tunnels? I think it's more landscaping than about traffic safety. Otherwise there would be a need to apply these kind of lighting to all tunnels and roads.

It is sort of trendy though, isn't it? A lot of new road projects in Sweden have decorations of some sort.

However, this whole thing is pretty ridiculous. Billboards are (generally) not allowed along Swedish motorways because of the risk for distraction. But wouldn't Billboards also keep drivers awake?

In pretty much all of eastern Europe, the fields surrounding motorways are littered with billboards. Not a pretty sight.

It is sort of trendy though, isn't it? A lot of new road projects in Sweden have decorations of some sort.

However, this whole thing is pretty ridiculous. Billboards are (generally) not allowed along Swedish motorways because of the risk for distraction. But wouldn't Billboards also keep drivers awake?

Billboards are not allowed mostly because they're ugly.

Billboards are not allowed mostly because they're ugly.

That shouldn't really be a reason for banning them, though? If an owner of a field wants to make some extra cash shouldn't he be allowed to?

God, this country.

That shouldn't really be a reason for banning them, though? If an owner of a field wants to make some extra cash shouldn't he be allowed to?

God, this country.
No, for the reasons stated above. If he owns a barn (or similar building) though, there's nothing stopping him from putting up a huge sign on one of its sides.

Not luxurious necessarily. The decorations do not add much on top of the construction cost. In general, the cost of white light does not differ much from blue light, for instance.

Anyway, it is rather a common way to build something interesting to see along the roads in the Scandinavian countries. They can help keeping the driver alert, as least during the dark season.

In Finland, the roundabouts often show something related to the place they are located in..

So are in Sweden:

Nynäshamn

http://www.stockholmlighting.se/nyheter/blatt-led-hav-i-ny-rondell
http://i.imgur.com/sploF.jpg?1

Finninge

http://www.acdclighting.co.uk/project-category/led/
http://i.imgur.com/KU2Dq.jpg?1

http://www.acdclighting.co.uk/project-category/led/
http://i.imgur.com/Qxm6d.jpg?1

Linköping

image hosted on flickr (http://www.flickr.com)
http://i.imgur.com/GRdL8.jpg?1
Rondellhund 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/malter/300344315/) by HennesR (http://www.flickr.com/people/malter/), on Flickr

Eskilstuna

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5167/5214900248_a3b9a36226_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/yvoeri/5214900248/)
Profile (http://www.flickr.com/photos/yvoeri/5214900248/) by Yvonne E (http://www.flickr.com/people/yvoeri/), on Flickr

Helsingborg

http://i.imgur.com/Wnl9C.jpg?1
http://www.fotopedia.com/wiki/Sweden#!/items/O_7FEZpUz0A-SI3LTgcTaKw

I guess, the most famous one - Sergels fountain, Stockholm:

image hosted on flickr (http://www.flickr.com)
http://i.imgur.com/eVERU.jpg?1
Stockholm - Sergels torget (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76714213@N02/6882819797/in/photostream/) by Seirrowon (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76714213@N02/), on Flickr

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2491/4008883983_8056a60172_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/28786313@N07/4008883983/)
Sergels torg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/28786313@N07/4008883983/) by PJRose (http://www.flickr.com/people/28786313@N07/), on Flickr

Of course, there are many roundabouts that are decorated in a more simple (or even dull) way (f.e. flowers and lapms), however the tendency is that more and more of them are being 'themed'. Interestingly enough, some serious companies compete to have a right to decorate rundabouts.

Allowing billboards simply comes down to a person's personal rights. The state shouldn't decide over such things.

It's hard being a liberal in Sweden.

Allowing billboards simply comes down to a person's personal rights. The state shouldn't decide over such things.

It's hard being a liberal in Sweden.
Putting up billboards should be a personal right? :nuts:

If you feel oppressed being a liberal here, you can always move to the Land of the Free™.

Putting up billboards should be a personal right? :nuts:

If you feel oppressed being a liberal here, you can always move the Land of the Free™.

Leave us out of it, please. Besides, he might be confused by the fact that "liberal" here, for some reason, means roughly the opposite of what it does on the Continent.

At any rate, some U.S. states and local jurisdictions prohibit billboards too.

If you can fall asleep in a tunnel, you could also fall asleep on the open motorway at night. How big of a problem is this actually? It looks more like some luxurious landscaping than an essential addition to keep tunnels safe.

Result of sleep inducing speed limits :).

I don't understand how anyone can think 110 km/h is a good limit with the low traffic going on there... Low to no traffic = flooring the throttle in my book.

Ah well, luckily I don't live there, Sweden is a beautiful country but with wrong politics imho :).

Speedlimit is 120 these days. In the 110 days I got pulled by the police for speeding once near Linköping, and I asked him why the speedlimits are so low in Sweden. Lots of accidents, he replied.

Speedlimit is 120 these days. In the 110 days I got pulled by the police for speeding once near Linköping, and I asked him why the speedlimits are so low in Sweden. Lots of accidents, he replied.

He must have ment "the no fatalities in traffic vision" (nollvisionen). Actually Trafikverket (Department of traffic) must be doing something right because the number of deaths in traffic is down from over 500 a year during the 90:s to under 300 nowadays. Safer cars is one factor of course but lower speed limits on non separated roads, a lot more separated roads and lower tolarance to dui are large factors too.

Some weeks ago I became witness to a head on collision on a road with meeting traffic. The car driving two cars ahead of me were doing 80 km/h wich was the speed limit at that place and the meeting car must have been doing at least 90-100 km/h. The meeting car did a poor overtake, lost control of his car and crashed into a total of three cars, the last one was the car in front of me. Car number 2 took the hardest blow and the woman driving that car was seriously injured. The idiot who did the overtake got away with just a few bruises and a totaly wrecked car but now he has to answer to the court suspected of wreckless driving.

Some years ago that same road had a speed limit of 90 km/h but with that kind of speed I´m doubtful the woman would have survived. After witnessing that accident Im definitly pro moderat speed limits on non separated traffic.

I have been arguing with a few boyracers on this forum, that speedlimits are there for a reason: to reduce accidents. They weren't having any of it. I must admit that limits on Swedish motorways is rather slow, considering that incidents are rare, and traffic volumes are low.

Sure, speed limits on swedish motorways could be higher than 120 km/h and still be safe.

Putting up billboards should be a personal right? :nuts:

If you feel oppressed being a liberal here, you can always move to the Land of the Free™.

Of course it's a personal right? If you're an land owner the state shouldn't be telling you what you can and can not do on this land. Ludicrous.

Of course it's a personal right? If you're an land owner the state shouldn't be telling you what you can and can not do on this land. Ludicrous.
Why not? Don't you think there should be restrictions on what I can do on my land? Should I be allowed to kill trespassers? Should I be allowed to charge vehicles in case there is a road going through it?

Of course it's a personal right? If you're an land owner the state shouldn't be telling you what you can and can not do on this land. Ludicrous.

Yes, it should. You may own a strip of land. The landscape, however, is a public good. Erecting large advertising panels does impair the sight of the landscape. Hence, it is prohibited and landowners are legally restricted to land uses which suit the landscape and serve the common good.
If you want to change the law you have to find a political majority to vote in your favour. Although, I doubt you will in this case.

Road safety is of course the main reason for the low speed limits, but that argument is really only valid on roads without a central barrier; it makes a huge difference if you have a head-on collision in 80km/h or 100 km/h, regardless of how modern your car is.

On motorways, the authorities are not even claiming that a 120 km/h (or higher) limit would cause significantly more deaths or more serious accidents. Look a the Danish example where they raised the speed limit and now see a falling number of accidents. What happened in Denmark was that the new 130-limit made people respect the remaining 110-stretches more, especially around Copenhagen where there is heavy traffic.

Instead, the discussion in Sweden is more focused on CO2-emissions these days. According to Trafikverket, raising the speed limits on all motorways to 120 would result in a sharp increase in CO2-emissions, which would go against the policy of reducing emissions from the transport sector.

To a certain extent they also refer to gender equality. There are studies done from time to time on what the public think about speed limits. In general, they usually show that men would like speed limits to be higher while women prefer them to stay the same or be lowered. Because the goal is a transportation system that is "attractive and accessible for both men and women", keeping the speed limit at 110 becomes a gender equality issue...

What a load of political correctness... Women can still choose to drive any legal speed they like.

Why not? Don't you think there should be restrictions on what I can do on my land? Should I be allowed to kill trespassers? Should I be allowed to charge vehicles in case there is a road going through it?

No (unless, you're directly affecting your neighbors or so eg. no building personal chemistry factories in the middle of a residential area to give an extreme example, but a farmer should be able to fill his land with anything he wants, car wrecks, billboards, windmills, cows, a giant penis statue, a church, whatever...), yes and yes.
It's YOUR land...



And I hate political correctness!

"I think that I shall never see
"A billboard lovely as a tree!
"Perhaps, unless the billboards fall,
"I'll never see a tree at all."

- American humorist-poet Ogden Nash.
Don't know when he said that, but he's been dead for about 40 years.

No, I'm not making that up.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/o/ogdennash134152.html

To a certain extent they also refer to gender equality. There are studies done from time to time on what the public think about speed limits. In general, they usually show that men would like speed limits to be higher while women prefer them to stay the same or be lowered. Because the goal is a transportation system that is "attractive and accessible for both men and women", keeping the speed limit at 110 becomes a gender equality issue...

Oh God. Is that really an issue on setting speed limits in Swedish roads? I mean, are them often justified by that?

Since the new European route: E16 (Oslo - Gävle) was officially initiated today I thought I could post a pic or two more!

These pic´s are all fresh, taken today actually!
In the outskirts of Gävle.
And conveniently the stretch between Gävle and Sandviken (and around Sandviken) have just been repaved! Finished last week. Quite appropriate to the E16 initiation. :)

http://imageshack.us/a/img405/6025/oiiiiiii.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img99/2941/oiiiiii.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img152/8306/oiiv.jpg

And just some article about it in one of the local papers in Gävle. (in Swedish ofc.) http://gd.se/nyheter/gavle/1.5123446-e16-invigs-pa-ort-efter-ort

And talking about the speed limits on Swedish motorways, I actually thought that good old "riks 80" (now E16) the part between Gävle and Valbo/Ikea would get lowered to 100 km/h, when the new limits was introduced a few years ago. But luckily it didn´t :) Since the road is so old (from the 1950´s) and quite curvy on a few places (and very, completely straight on other parts...) and have got lot´s of traffic and lot´s of exits. And also no emergency lanes :/ This is just the oldest part and closest to Gävle I´m talking about, the stretch from Valbo shopping centrer/road 56-exit to Sandviken is from the 1960´s and got wide emergency lanes and so on, also a bit less traffic!

Are these pictures taken on a Sunday?

Are these pictures taken on a Sunday?

Nope, they are taken today actually! :)
Why you think they would been taken on a Sunday?

Fairly busy on the road for Swedish standards, but no freight traffic. It'd be the other way round on the E4 south of Stockholm.

^^ The AADT there (Valbo-Gävle) is about 30.000 vehicles/day with a truck share of about 10 %.

Fairly busy on the road for Swedish standards, but no freight traffic. It'd be the other way round on the E4 south of Stockholm.

A, I see, the pic´s was taken mid day, like lunch time today. But the first pic (maybe the second also) looks quite empty I think, but the last looks busy indeed!

And as I think I have said before, the "E16" have got almost twice as high traffic numbers as the "E4" around Gävle. :O

Just checked it out, it ain´t almost twice as much any more, but still alot more on the E16.
E16: 33.000 (AADT)
E4: 21.000 (AADT)

Since I´m in the "post mood", I´ll post some random pic´s of different kind of Swedish roads.
Though most are from a trip to Gothenburg in June this year.

The road (national route 56) between the two small towns of Sala and Heby, in the middle of Sweden, between Västerås and Gävle.
Typical wide (~13m) Swedish country road/highway. It is soon up for being converted to a 2+1 road divided by guardrail.

There is (was) almost 4.000 km wide, 13 meters country roads in Sweden, when they started rebuilding them to 2+1 roads.

2+1 road is a specific category of three-lane road, consisting of two lanes in one direction and one lane in the other, alternating every few kilometres, and separated usually with a steel cable barrier.

And the first example of this kind of two-lane express way (?) (motortrafikled) conversion was the E4 north of my home town Gävle.
It was converted to a separated 2+1 express way back in 1997. And from having been one of the most dangerous roads in Sweden (with lot´s of head on collisions in 110km/h+ speeds... when people where overtaking in both directions at the same time because of the wide road...)
there have since almost been none, or at least very few fatal accidents! :)

National route 56 between the two small towns of Sala and Heby.
http://imageshack.us/a/img267/8323/img1334yd.jpg

The part between Sala down to Västerås was being rebuilt when I was on this trip. Closest to Sala they had not put up the barrier yet.
http://imageshack.us/a/img687/1028/img1337vl.jpg

Further south the conversion was completed, and this road apparently got the more unusual barrier, instead of the steel cable version.
http://imageshack.us/a/img89/982/img1339l.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img835/3382/img1340f.jpg

E18. The old city motorway through Västerås, I always enjoyed driving on city motorways :) although they usually are quite hated by the people in the cities which they run through...
http://imageshack.us/a/img835/2608/img1346nb.jpg
Both the light poles and the median barrier are original and of the classic, typical Swedish 1960´s or 70´s standard.

Lot´s of traffic here around a big shopping centre/area in the western outskirts of Västerås. And not very nice looking pavement either... :P
http://imageshack.us/a/img191/2690/img1350ol.jpg

E18, now outside of Västerås.
http://imageshack.us/a/img594/3826/img1352sq.jpg

Rest stop information.
http://imageshack.us/a/img94/2770/img1353uns.jpg

Main exit to the small town of Köping.
http://imageshack.us/a/img210/8343/img1355mc.jpg

This is a picture of the old E18 IN Köping... The motorway outside the town was completed in 1995.
http://imageshack.us/a/img849/9541/img1359ge.jpg

Some nice scenic views ;P
http://imageshack.us/a/img831/4443/img1356i.jpg

Taken from a rest stop area, between Västerås and Örebro.
On most pic´s you can also see the wildlife fences ("moose fence" as we call them in Sweden :) ). Almost all major country roads in Sweden got them.
http://imageshack.us/a/img23/5920/dsc0833gk.jpg

Exit to the small but historical important town of Arboga.
http://imageshack.us/a/img687/6609/img1387ua.jpg

Somewhere between Västerås and Örebro.
http://imageshack.us/a/img193/7907/img1389xw.jpg

Speed limits can, or cannot, be determined by safety concerns. In many cases they are indeed fixed to what is safe on a given road. In many others, though, speed limits are kept artificially low out for reasons other than safety of road users, such as "symbolic politics" of not allowing fast traffic within city limits, or bogus anti-noise claims.

E4 Sundsvall - Haparanda

Part 1 Sundsvall - Umeå (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=94876750&postcount=1383)
Part 2 Umeå - Piteå (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=94936264&postcount=1387)

Part 3 Piteå -Haparanda (171km)

Green = Motorway
Light green = Motortrafikled
Yellow = Grade separated 2+1, essentially up to motortrafikled standard.
Orange = Grade separated 2+2, essentially up to motortrafikled/motorway standard
Blue = 2+1 with at grade intersections or mixed grade separated/at grade.
Dark Blue = 2+2 with at grade intersections or mixed grade separated/at grade.
Black = Regular 2-lane road
Red = Slow speed 2-lane road/city street with two our four lanes, traffic lights, roundabouts etc.
Brown = Under construction

http://i.imgur.com/sZeej.jpg

1. Piteå - Boviken 6,5km Motorway (Sweden's northernmost stretch of motorway).
2. Boviken - Rosvik 14km 2-lane road.
3. Rosvik - Ersnäs 10km 2+1, no grade separation.
4. Through Ersnäs/Trafikplats Ersnäs 1,7km. U/C. Building of one grade separated intersection and widening to 2+2.
5. Ersnäs - Gäddvik 10,5km 2+2, mostly grade separated.
6. Gäddvik - Rutvik 9km 2+1 grade separated classified as motortrafikled (Sweden's northernmost).
7. Rutvik - Nickbyn 8km 2+1, one grade separated intersection.
8. Nickbyn - Persön 2km Upgrade to 2+1 with barrier, no grade separation.
9. Persön - Börjeslandet 4km 2+1 one grade separated intsecton.
10. Through Börjeslandet 1,5km 2-lane road.
11. Börjeslandet - Kalix 51km 2+1, partly grade separated.
12. Through Kalix 2,5km 2-lane road with mostly roundabouts.
13. Kalix - Sangis 17,5km 2-lane road with two grade separated intersections.
14. Through Sangis 1,7km 2-lane village thoroughfare.
15. Sangis - Harrioja 10km 2-lane road.
16. Harrioja - Salmis 12,5km 2+1 no grade separation.
17. Salmis - Haparanda 7km 2-lane road.
18. Haparanda - Swe/Fin border 2-lane road with roundabouts.

Future plans

Probably before 2021

1. Through Börjeslandet 1,5km Upgrade to 2+1. Building starts 2013.
2. Boviken - Rosvik 14km. Upgrade to 2+1, and two grade separated intersections. Building starts 2016.
3. Kalix - Lappbäcken 13km. Upgrade to 2+1. Building start unknown, but probably before 2021.

After 2021

1. Lappbäcken - Harrioja 16km upgrade to 2+1.
2. Salmis - Haparanda 7km upgrade to 2+1 or 2+2.

According to this article (http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/e4-blir-dubbelfilig-vid-ljungby_7523766.svd), the E4 at Ljungby will be rebuilt to motorway standards starting 2015.

That's a shame. I like the variable 1x2 bit as a change of pace.

The choice has been made for E4 Skellefteå by Trafikverket today. Surprisingly, the best alternative was chosen, i.e the eastern corridor "Östra Leden" instead of continuing through downtown.

Article (www.svt.se/nyheter/regionalt/vasterbottensnytt/e4-flyttas-till-ostra-leden)

http://i.imgur.com/za3vk.jpg

According to this article (http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/e4-blir-dubbelfilig-vid-ljungby_7523766.svd), the E4 at Ljungby will be rebuilt to motorway standards starting 2015.

Finally!!! :banana:


Why not? Don't you think there should be restrictions on what I can do on my land? Should I be allowed to kill trespassers? Should I be allowed to charge vehicles in case there is a road going through it?
You don't know much about the core principles of liberalism, do you? I rest my case.

It appears that space has been reserved for such a corridor. What kind of road will it be? Four-lane highway? Motorway? 2+1? Grade separated?

Well, that´s great news!
It´s funny and strange how pretty much all cities along E4 north of Hudiksvall have had the E4 running more or less right through down town up until now.
But I guess it´s probably much because the real through-traffic up there is and have especially been low! And instead almost all the towns up there built motorway parts on the E4 leading IN to down town quite early like in the 1960´s, like Sundsvall, Umeå and so on. Because the commuters from the surrounding countryside and suburbs/satellite towns where going in to the cities for work, shopping and so on.

But still! :/

But now it´s finally all changing fast, with the E4-project in both Sundsvall and Umeå, and now also Skellefteå!

I hope and assume it will be of real motorway standard in Skellefteå? Or at least 4-lane highway?

It appears that space has been reserved for such a corridor. What kind of road will it be? Four-lane highway? Motorway? 2+1? Grade separated?

2+1 south of Skellefteå River and 2+2 16m north of the river. At least one roundabout also. This is only preliminary though, so it may change for better or worse.

It is 2+1 grade separated today so I guess 2+2 motorway.

BTW Ölandsbron (Öland Bridge), the bridge between Kalmar and the Island of Öland in the Baltic Sea is 40 years old September 30th.

The lenght is 6072 meters (19921 ft), width 13 m and longest span 130 m. It was inaugurated on 30 September 1972.

The E4/E20 widening south of Stockholm is completed as of the 6th of september. 11 km of 2x2 motorway has been widened to 3x3 (no hard shoulders). The new stretch can be seen in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS_nNSUYoRI&t=27m3s

^^ Not a fan of widening without shoulders. Why did they choose to do that? If they must widen it why not make sure it has all safety provisions?

Although there are far less mechanical breakdowns than 20 years ago, giving up shoulders is a major concession to the accessibility of emergency services.

The stretch seemed rural and with much space to spare. I don't get the decission.

Del

They widening the stretch by using existing space to build a 3+3 motorway as fast as possible and cost efficient. Along the stretch there are short emergency shoulders and the whole stretch is equipped with VMS so they can close a lane in case of an accident but in the end it's a question about the best solution vs cost.

Meanwhile there is a prestudy going on looking at a long term solution of the traffic situation between Södertälje and Hallunda and it includes an alternative to build a whole new stretch.

E22 Hurva-Rolsberga and Hörby-Linderöd nearing completion:

http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/94164/120919_bild150630_Rolsberga_440x200.jpg

http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/94185/006_Ekerod_120926_440x200.jpg

In Umeå the new E4, also called Östra Länken and Norra Länken will open tommorow.

Norra Länken will host E12 until the last part, Västra Länken is completed around 2017. Notable is that 2km of Norra Länken will not get barrier for now, since the builders aren't sure if the waterlogged soil underneath will cause problems once traffic comes on the road. 7500 wooden poles have been placed underneath to prevent the road from sinking. If the road holds up wired fence will be put up during summer 2013. If not it simply needs to be fixed.

http://www.vk.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/20110302-202138-pic-784389371.jpg

And two other pictures

http://www.vk.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/20121003-232431-pic-304175211.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/p9wFk.jpg

A motorcycle journey by the Lake Vättern on E4:

qhaHRDNqPFk

Some updates covering the swedish motorway network:

Västerås Municipality will lend 200 million SEK to trafikverket in order to speed up the construction of the E18 missing link west of Sagån. Construction was planned to start in 2016, but will now start early 2013 instead.

http://www.unt.se/inc/imagehandler.ashx?id=1910599&cropheight=312&width=468&quality=75

The segment is 11 km long with an AADT of 16400.

E16 was inaugurated on september 29th. The entire strech is now signed as E16.

E6 between löddeköpinge and Alnarp will be widened to 3x3.

Also, when I drove past Ljungby on the E4 the other day, I noticed that the forest on the western side of the 2+1 road has been cleared and there were lots of excavators and other types of machinery working on that side of the road. I'm assuming that they have already started working on the widening.

E22 Hurva-Rolsberga and Hörby N-Linderöd will be signed 110 km/h on November 16th according to Trafikverket.

interesting country:)

E6 between löddeköpinge and Alnarp will be widened to 3x3

Not a day too soon. This has been talked about for decades.

Västerås Municipality will lend 200 million SEK to trafikverket in order to speed up the construction of the E18 missing link west of Sagån. Construction was planned to start in 2016, but will now start early 2013 instead.

http://www.unt.se/inc/imagehandler.ashx?id=1910599&cropheight=312&width=468&quality=75

The segment is 11 km long with an AADT of 16400.

This is interesting for me. I understand that local government borrowed money to national road fund in order to speed up a project, is that correct?

Yes, you can see it as "pre-financing" a project. It happens in the Netherlands as well.

Aphelion, those stretches of E22 that you mentioned, are they lowering it from 120 or increasing from 100? Am I correct that those are "motortrafikled", grade separated?

Aphelion, those stretches of E22 that you mentioned, are they lowering it from 120 or increasing from 100? Am I correct that those are "motortrafikled", grade separated?
Correct, they are motortrafikled and thus they must be increasing to 110 from 100.

^^ They are currently regular roads being widened to motorway, check the link in my signature.

[QUOTE=Shifty2k5;96496349]Some updates covering the swedish motorway network:

Västerås Municipality will lend 200 million SEK to trafikverket in order to speed up the construction of the E18 missing link west of Sagån. Construction was planned to start in 2016, but will now start early 2013 instead.

http://www.unt.se/inc/imagehandler.ashx?id=1910599&cropheight=312&width=468&quality=75

Great news!
Have now been commuting between Stockholm and Örebro for a while..
couldn't help getting annoyed about the bottlenecks on the way, that particular strech is one of them..especially driving in the dark
there`s still another one to the West from Västerås

E22 Sölve-Stensnäs new aerial photos (from south to north):

1. The new road deviates from the current road at Sölve:
http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/98476/2S5D5108.gif

2. Passing next to a dam at the former farm Ekengård:
http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/98476/2S5D5111.gif

3. Secondary county road K525 (Lussabacksvägen) is crossed at Ysane:
http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/98476/2S5D5115.gif

4. View of the Vesan plain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesan) west of Norje:
http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/98476/2S5D5117.gif

5. Crossing of canals west of Norje:
http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/98476/2S5D5119.gif

6. Crossing of canals west of Norje:
http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/98476/2S5D5121.gif

7. Crossing of canals west of Norje:
http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/98476/2S5D5123.gif

8. Secondary county road K529 (Möllebjörkevägen) north of Norje will get a new alignment:
http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/98476/2S5D5126.gif

9. Crossing secondary county road K522 (Vikakvarnsvägen) west of Pukavik:
http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/98476/2S5D5130.gif

10. Crossing secondary county road K547 (Gustavstorpsvägen) north of Pukavik:
http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/98476/2S5D5135.gif

11. Crossing secondary county road K549 (Gallerydavägen) west of Mörrum:
http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/98476/2S5D5137.gif

12. Re-joining the current E22 just west of interchange Mörrum West (exit number 49):
http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/98476/2S5D5141.gif

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8190/8145181103_e1ae4d419e_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77138617@N05/8145181103/)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8473/8145221076_bd713f03ea_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77138617@N05/8145221076/)
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8334/8145278486_36b2dd821c_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77138617@N05/8145278486/)

Around 10AM is truck-time on the E4. Truckers in Stockholm started their working day, driving south, also the Baltic ferries have arrived in the port of Stockholm at 8-9AM, so forregin truckers pass by Linköping about 2 hours later.

Actually around 10AM today traffic was rather dense on the stretch Linköping-Mjölby (by swedish messures)

Some aerial photos by Trafikverket.

http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/101764/01_TB_1211_5476.jpg

http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/101764/02_TB_1211_5467.jpg

http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/101764/03_TB_1211_5570.jpg

http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/101764/13_TB_1211_5716.jpg

http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/101764/14_TB_1211_5918.jpg

http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/101764/21_TB_1211_5810_600.jpg

http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/101764/24_TB_1211_5800.jpg

http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/101764/27_TB_1211_5865.jpg

Today the following new motorway sections opened:

E22 Hurva-Rolsberga, 5.5 km
http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/16119/20121113_105535_Rolsberga_440x200.jpg

E22 Hörby North-Linderöd, 10 km
http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/97172/001_Horby_440x200.jpg

From the pictures, it looks like the term "motorway" is heavily inflated in Sweden recently...

The standard RQ (Regelquerschnitt - cross section) of a 2x2 motorway in Germany is 31.0 meters and 28.0 meters if they are narrow. However Sweden has motorways as narrow as 18.5 meters. In all fairness, those can hardly be called motorways due to their inferior design standards. Even expressways in many other countries are wider than that.

Well, AADT is 17.000 for Hurva-Rolsberga and 9.000 for Hörby N-Linderöd, so the width is acceptable for this kind of rural roads. I drove both of them this evening :).

From the pictures, it looks like the term "motorway" is heavily inflated in Sweden recently...

The standard RQ (Regelquerschnitt - cross section) of a 2x2 motorway in Germany is 31.0 meters and 28.0 meters if they are narrow. However Sweden has motorways as narrow as 18.5 meters. In all fairness, those can hardly be called motorways due to their inferior design standards. Even expressways in many other countries are wider than that.

And in France?

Of course I agree with you on the sad fact that motorway widths have been cramped down during the last 20 years.

However, if the choice is no motorway or a narrow motorway, what would you do? :)

Of course I agree with you on the sad fact that motorway widths have been cramped down during the last 20 years.

However, if the choice is no motorway or a narrow motorway, what would you do?

The Swedish approach is a very good example of following the fit for purpose principle: Building good roads while avoiding unnecessary cost.

There is no sense to apply German standards of heavily loaded roads with unlimited speed to roads in sparsely populated Scandinavian areas having the design speed 130 or less.

I think the design speed of this motorway (judging from the photos) is only 100 km/h (speed limit = 110). There is almost no space on the left to correct maneouvres, while normal motorways have about 0.5 - 0.75 meters of such space. The median divider has no space at all to turn over without obstructing traffic in the other direction. Normally guardrails may use 0.7 - 1 meter at either side to bend out in case of a collission.

I think the design speed of this motorway (judging from the photos) is only 100 km/h (speed limit = 110). There is almost no space on the left to correct maneouvres, while normal motorways have about 0.5 - 0.75 meters of such space. The median divider has no space at all to turn over without obstructing traffic in the other direction. Normally guardrails may use 0.7 - 1 meter at either side to bend out in case of a collission.

There are a few similar motorways in Finland. I have not heard about any non-minor issues related to narrow shoulders and simple mid-barriers. Those roads are, of course, not optimal in the scale of safety only. But they are rather optimal in the space of safety, cost and usability.

I agree that this is probably the best cost-benefit solution. I however have doubts to call this a motorway as it is significantly below the usual minimum design standards.

I agree that this is probably the best cost-benefit solution. I however have doubts to call this a motorway as it is significantly below the usual minimum design standards.

What would change if it were called something else than a motorway? I guess nothing would.

I do not think there is any internationally accepted minimum criteria regarding to motorway lane widths etc. The Central European and American standards just do not apply to roads in sparsely populated endless forests.

The definition of a motorway in the Vienna Convention text is very loose:

"Motorway" means a road specially designed and built for motor
traffic, which does not serve properties bordering on it, and which:
(i) Is provided, except at special points or temporarily, with
separate carriageways for the two directions of traffic,
separated from each other either by a dividing strip not
intended for traffic or, exceptionally, by other means;
(ii) Does not cross at level with any road, railway or tramway track,
or footpath; and
(iii) Is specially signposted as a motorway;

The Swedish motorway discussed fits well into this definition.

Here's a very interesting video that I found while browsing Youtube.

It clearly shows the downside of the 2+1 type of roads that are so prominent in Sweden.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jVv-vHZ5uM

Here's a very interesting video that I found while browsing Youtube.

It clearly shows the downside of the 2+1 type of roads that are so prominent in Sweden.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jVv-vHZ5uM

I think motorways should only be built if the flow of traffic requires it.

As a taxpayer I don't want to subsidize empty motorways.

I have driven the road 55 Norrköping-Katrineholm a 2+1 road, there are plenty of 2-lane road for overtake.

Also nowadays many foreign trucks drive on our motorways, maybe it's time for them to pay toll for wearing out the roadways?

Foreign trucks already pay tolls in Sweden.

Foreign trucks already pay tolls in Sweden.

Really ? Is that fee payed at the customs in the harbour ?

Can a truck get in to the country without paying toll, there are lot's of unstaffed borderpoints at the borders with Norway & Finland.

Is this fee payed by all type of heavy trucks, even those without a trailer.

Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes have to pay the electronic Eurovignet, which is valid in Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. It's been replaced by electronic toll in Germany. It usually only applies to motorways. It substitutes local heavy vehicle taxes (which foreign trucks don't pay).

The toll is € 8 per day or € 1250 - € 1550 per year, depending on the emission class (Euro standards).

Here's a very interesting video that I found while browsing Youtube.

It clearly shows the downside of the 2+1 type of roads that are so prominent in Sweden.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jVv-vHZ5uM

Maybe emergency crews should carry one of these:
http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00nCqQtibEslkT/Cut-off-Saw-HUSQVARNA-272-268-.jpg

Yeah, the easiest solution is to just cut the wire.

Driving on the wrong side of the road even with emergency vehicles can provoke serious or fatal accidents, so this is not right solution. Correct solution would be to enlarge width with additional 1 m.

I think motorways should only be built if the flow of traffic requires it.

As a taxpayer I don't want to subsidize empty motorways.

How far into the future should you look then?

If you're planing a new road, it's quite stupid to build a 3 lane expressway if the need for motorway hits in 15, 20 or 25 years later. In the long run, that will be much more expensive than building a motorway in the first place. Even if the real need isn't there today.

Yesterday (6 December) a new 75 km piece of motorway ( + a new double track high speed rail ) was initiated between Gothenburg and Trollhättan in western Sweden.

The motorway is part of the E45 (former National route 45, until 2006?)
and both the road and the rail road is partly rebuilt in the old stretch but mostly they run in a new stretch.

The decision to build both this road and rail road was taken by the government (after heavy lobbing by the local governments in the region) in 2004 (I think) when the Saab factory (which is located in the small town of Trollhättan) was up for a discussion by it´s former owner GM to maybe either be sold or move the production/parts of the production to the Opel plant i Russelsheim, Germany. Since then Saab Automobile have already been sold! To Dutch entrepreneur Victor Muller, and as you probably know Saab sadly went bankrupt last December... :( So in that sense this project came to finish to late. But ofc this road and rail road is very much needed for the region any way! :)

The project includes:
50 new bridges and tunnels.
15 new interchanges
and 7 new commuter train stations

Project cost: 1,7 billion Euro.


http://imageshack.us/a/img401/3317/troll2hs.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img203/8474/1519761681.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img338/2286/2829226197.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img820/6972/e45iii.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img833/3028/e45iv.jpg

The part through Göta is yet to be built though if I understand things correctly.

Two stretches of total 2,5 km long north and south of Lilla Edet require 370 million SEK of financing. This money is nowhere to be found and these bottlenecks will remain maybe for decades to come....

There is also still a traffic signal between Göteborg and E6.

Does anyone know what the status of the proposed link road east of Arboga (E18 to E20) is? Trafikverket has this document (http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/24051/vmn_001_e18_e20_grasnas_reutersberg_samlad_effekt_bedom_r.pdf) about it.

According to some sources the motorway north of Arboga is underused since through traffic to/from the E20 east of Arboga (especially trucks) use the old road through the southern parts of Arboga instead.

According to some sources the motorway north of Arboga is underused since through traffic to/from the E20 east of Arboga (especially trucks) use the old road through the southern parts of Arboga instead.

Can't they just make some traffic calming terror on the shortcut? Like unnecessary roundabouts and speed bumps? :lol:

New video of the Northern Link underground motorway in Stockholm (English subtitles).

p6HFfJ4Vkk0

And again, a new year approaching. In terms of openings 2013 will not bring that much.

E22

Rolsberga–Fogdarp 4,7km (18,5 m)

Riksväg 50

Mjölby-Motala 28km motortrafikled/expressway (16m 2+2 and 13m 2+1)

^^ There might be some regular roads being converted to 2+1, but I don't have any list of such projects (yet :)).

^^ There might be some regular roads being converted to 2+1, but I don't have any list of such projects (yet :)).

LV 288 in Uppland is one that I know of :)

http://www.trafikverket.se/vag288jalla

And again, a new year approaching. In terms of openings 2013 will not bring that much.

E22

Rolsberga–Fogdarp 4,7km (18,5 m)

Riksväg 50

Mjölby-Motala 28km motortrafikled/expressway (16m 2+2 and 13m 2+1)



I take it you mean 16km 2+2 and 13km 2+1? Cause a 2+2 road that's only 16m in width is new to me..

Merry Christmas, everyone!/God Jul till alla!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8242711858_f2141a7b0e_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredf78/8242711858/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredf78/8242711858/) by Fredrik Forsberg (http://www.flickr.com/people/fredf78/), on Flickr

I take it you mean 16km 2+2 and 13km 2+1? Cause a 2+2 road that's only 16m in width is new to me..

On page 8 of this document you can see an example of a 15,75 m wide 2+2-road (under 3.2 Plan-, profilgeometri och typsektion): http://www.trafikverket.se/PageFiles/19190/Reviderad_beskrivning_arbetsplan_2010_vag_108.pdf

A real life example: http://goo.gl/maps/IeuQw

More info: http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyrf%C3%A4ltsv%C3%A4g

E10 between Björkliden and Narvik in the very north of Sweden and Norway has been closed due to cold weather. It is around -40 degrees in the area.

http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/smhi-varnar-for-nytt-snoovader

Christmas eve motorway photos

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8084/8307206282_8c123308c3_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76122035@N02/8307206282/)
Road 34 motorway, one of few motorways that are not E-roads.


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8211/8307205630_fa4e65256e_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76122035@N02/8307205630/)
E4 entrance at road 34 Linköping West

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8223/8306998580_e1789dda22_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77398453@N05/8306998580/)
About 5km west of Linköping the speed limit increases from 110km/h to 120km/h


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8078/8306995972_9b3d1cb83b_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77398453@N05/8306995972/)
Entering Mjölby kommun


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8360/8307204700_b66b3293e2_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/76122035@N02/8307204700/)
E4 Exit at Mantorp connecting to road 206

Video of the partly new E45 between Gothenburg and Trollhättan.

o7LJYgPrETs
Nya E45:an Göteborg - Trollhättan 01-01-2013 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7LJYgPrETs) by JimiOfficial (http://www.youtube.com/user/JimiOfficial?feature=watch)